Update on the 2019 Work Programme for Health, Demographic Change and Wellbeing

The European Commission has published the updated 2019 Work Programme for the Health, demographic change and wellbeing. The work programme has not changed since the last draft which was published earlier this month, however there are a few changes since the draft sent out last year.

What is new in 2019?

Specifically, the addition of the words ‘mental and non-mental disorders’ to the tile of call SC1-BHC-01-2019 (Understanding causative mechanisms in co- and multimorbidities combining mental and non-mental disorders) and the removal of Other Actions: 6 (Subscription fee: World RePORT international health research database).

Moreover, six new calls have been added:

• SC1-BHC-30-2019: Towards risk-based screening strategies for non-communicable diseases
  • This Research and Innovation Action sets out to develop new or refined, targeted population-based screening interventions aimed at identifying populations or groups at high risk of developing disease. The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of €4-6 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately.
• SC1-BHC-31-2019: Pilot actions to build the foundations of a human cell atlas
  • Each pilot within the Research and Innovation Action, should demonstrate the utility of an interdisciplinary technological/biological platform to generate and integrate standardised molecular, cellular, biochemical and other data sets, characterising single cells or their nuclear components, their interactions and/or spatial location in tissues from one human organ. Platforms supporting analysis of tissues from more than one organ are also in scope. The Commission considers proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of €3-5 million would allow for the specific challenge to be addressed appropriately.
• SC1-BHC-32-2019: Towards a next generation influenza vaccine to protect citizens worldwide – an EU-India collaboration.
  • This Research and Innovation Action aims to further the advancement of next generation influenza vaccine candidate(s) with improved efficacy and safety, duration of immunity, and reactivity against an increased breadth of influenza strains. Proposals should make use of new knowledge of, for example, structural biology, immunology, genetics and genomics, influenza transmission modelling, vaccine production, formulation and delivery methods The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of €6-10 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately.
• SC1-HCO-15-2019: Support for the functioning of the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R)
  • This Coordination and Support Action should provide administrative and organisational support to the Chair and Vice Chairs of GloPID-R, in close collaboration with the European Commission. Proposals should also maintain and expand GloPID-R’s external communications activities and provide technical support on topics requested by the GloPID-R Chairs or groups such as the SAB or ISG. The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of around €1 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately.
• Other Actions: 7. InnovFin Infectious Diseases (InnovFin ID)
  • InnovFin Infectious Diseases aims to finance pre-commercial stage investments in the field of
    Infections Disease (ID). Projects developing innovative vaccines, drugs, medical and diagnostic devices must have gone successfully through the preclinical stage and preferably through early stage clinical development and now require clinical validation or be ready for later stage clinical trials in order to be eligible for InnovFin ID. Projects on research infrastructures must refer to facilities, resources and related services to be used by the scientific community to conduct top-level research and must be novel e.g. not replicate what already exists, in order to be eligible for InnovFin ID. InnovFin ID will make loans of between €7.5 million and €75 million to SMEs, midcaps, special project vehicles, research institutions and other legal entities for the purposes of corporate or project finance, and to large pharmaceutical companies for financing the development of pre-identified medical products on a risk-sharing basis.
• Other Actions: 8. Grant to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
  • Grant to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) objective is to finance and coordinate the development of new medical countermeasures to prevent and contain infectious disease epidemics, which are of particular concern to low income countries. The H2020 funding will be used to enhance and expand CEPI’s activities. This is different from the ERA-NET Cofund and the EJP Cofund actions. The main purpose of this action is to provide financial support to third parties through calls for proposals, in the forms of grants. The EU contribution will be limited to a maximum of 70% of the total eligible costs of the action.

Further information on the Health Work Programme can be found in UKRO’s dedicated factsheet.

​The Horizon 2020 ‘Health, demographic change and wellbeing’ info day was held on 12 July 2018 and you can watch a web stream of the all-day event on the EC streaming services website. There will also be a brokerage event on 3-4 September 2018 in Oslo, Norway. The event offers an opportunity to find out more about the calls and identify partners. Registration is open until 15 August 2018.